16-letter words containing a, n, p, r
- keep under wraps — not reveal
- key note speaker — a person who delivers a keynote address.
- knapsack problem — the problem of determining which numbers from a given collection of numbers have been added together to yield a specific sum: used in cryptography to encipher (and sometimes decipher) messages.
- knitting pattern — a pattern that tells you how to knit a garment or another object
- knock for a loop — a portion of a cord, ribbon, etc., folded or doubled upon itself so as to leave an opening between the parts.
- lagrangian point — one of five points in the orbital plane of two bodies orbiting about their common center of gravity at which another body of small mass can be in equilibrium.
- land-poor farmer — a farmer who owns much unprofitable land and lacks the money to maintain its fertility or improve it
- large-print book — a book where the text is printed in larger text than normal, so as to make it easier to read, esp for the visually impaired
- laurentides park — a national park in SE Canada, in Quebec province between the St. Lawrence and Lake St. John.
- law of parsimony — a principle according to which an explanation of a thing or event is made with the fewest possible assumptions.
- leap in the dark — to spring through the air from one point or position to another; jump: to leap over a ditch.
- learner's permit — A learner's permit is a license that allows you to drive a vehicle before you have passed your driving test.
- learning process — a process of learning
- led page printer — LED printer
- left parenthesis — (character) "(". ASCII character 40. Common names: left paren; left parenthesis; left; open; paren (")" = thesis); open paren; open parenthesis; left parenthesis; left banana. Rare: so (")" = already); lparen; ITU-T: opening parenthesis; open round bracket, left round bracket, INTERCAL: wax (")" = wane); parenthisey (")" = unparenthisey); left ear. Paired with right parenthesis (")").
- legal department — the department that deals with legal matters
- legal separation — judicial separation.
- leptosporangiate — (of ferns) having each sporangium developing from a single cell, rather than from a group, and normally with specialized explosive spore dispersal
- lever escapement — an escapement in which a pivoted lever, made to oscillate by the escape wheel, engages a balance staff and causes it to oscillate.
- lizard peninsula — a promontory in SW England, in SW Cornwall: the southernmost point in Great Britain
- lower palatinate — See under Palatinate (def 1).
- lymphangiography — x-ray visualization of lymph vessels and nodes following injection of a contrast medium.
- mach's principle — the proposition that there is no absolute space and that the inertia and acceleration of a body are determined by all of the matter of the universe.
- machine operator — someone who operates mechanical equipment
- macpherson strut — an automobile suspension-system component that consists of a strut combined with a spring and shock absorber and connects the wheel to the frame of the vehicle.
- magnetic pyrites — Mineralogy. pyrrhotite.
- magnetoreceptors — Plural form of magnetoreceptor.
- majority opinion — an opinion in a case that is shared by more than half of the members of a court
- malapportionment — (of a state or other political unit) poorly apportioned, especially divided, organized, or structured in a manner that prevents large sections of a population from having equitable representation in a legislative body.
- malpighian layer — the deep, germinative layer of the epidermis.
- man and superman — a comedy (1903) by G. B. Shaw.
- man booker prize — an annual prize for a work of Commonwealth or Irish fiction of £50,000, awarded as the Booker Prize from 1969–2002
- mangrove snapper — gray snapper.
- manic depression — bipolar disorder.
- manic-depressive — suffering from bipolar disorder.
- marriage partner — a person you are married to
- marriage portion — dowry.
- marsupialization — (surgery) The surgical technique of cutting a slit into a cyst and suturing its edges to form a continuous surface from the exterior to the interior of the cyst, allowing it to drain freely.
- mechanoreception — The action of a mechanoreceptor.
- mechanoreceptive — Responsive to mechanical stimuli such as sound and touch.
- mechanoreceptors — Plural form of mechanoreceptor.
- media atropatene — an ancient region in NW Iran, formerly a part of Media.
- megacorporations — Plural form of megacorporation.
- megaphanerophyte — any tree with a height over 30 metres
- megasporogenesis — the formation and development of megaspores.
- menippean satire — a form of satire that is indirect and nonrealistic in approach and that consists typically of a loosely organized narrative incorporating a series of dialogues between representatives of various points of view
- menstrual cramps — pain in the lower abdomen as well as possibly in the lower back and legs associated with menstruation
- menstrual period — the bleeding from the womb that occurs approximately monthly in nonpregnant women of reproductive age
- mercantile paper — commercial paper.
- metamorphization — Process or action of metamorphizing.